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I am sorry, but some things in this article are simply not true.

For example

" echo of Russian antisemitism—Josef Stalin’s and then Leonid Brezhnev’s persecution of Jews—had not entirely receded."

Josef Stalin was not Russian but Georgian, Brezhnev was not Russian but Ukrainian.

Second - It masked Russia’s own, darker, fascistic impulses—which we are now seeing play out in Ukraine.

I disagree with what Russia is doing in Ukraine, but for god sake, Ukraine has literal Nazi units in it army, Azov battalion was using insignia of German SS. Stephan Bandera and his army, that committed numerus pogroms during WW2 is celebrated as heroes in Ukraine. Ukraine had to revoke Ambassador to Germany, because he was publicly praising Bander and his Army as great fighters (they literary did noting but kill Jews during WW2). He even has huge monument in Lviv https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Bandera_monument_in_Lviv

https://forward.com/news/462916/nazi-collaborator-monuments-in-ukraine/

World is not black and white, this is especially true for Eastern Europe.

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Technically you are correct here -- Josef Stalin was not Russian but Georgian -- however he was always representing Russian point of view so consider him as he did himself Honorable Russian. At that level ethnicity did not matter Koganovich technically was Jewish. Whenever it would become an issue as it did all of a sudden with Molotov's wife Mrs. Polina Zhemchuzhina, it was very publicly punished.

"Brezhnev was not Russian but Ukrainian." This one is not correct! He was ethnically Russian though came from the Ukraine city of Dnepropetrovsk.

One needs to grow up in Russia (former USSR) to understand all the nuances.

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Here is a good article on the history and very limited political power of the Azov “battalion”... it both is and is not what it seems. https://unherd.com/2022/06/the-truth-about-ukraines-nazi-militias/

My only complaint with the article is its use of “far right” as its label of them. The nazi’s never were “conservative.” The Socialist/Communists and the fascist Nazis were related forms of evil leveraging identity politics to sow chaos and then take control. Because only the Nazi atrocities have the popular imagination the left, e.g. Antifa, uses the label to smear any apposing group.

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Stalin and Brezhnev were dictators of Russia. That made them an "echo of Russian antisemitism" as surely as if they had been born in Red Square.

Russian Jew-hunting wasn't a mask, it was part and parcel of the "darker, fascistic impulses" you correctly point out.

Finally, the Azov battalion. It was largely shorn of its Nazis and then reassigned to the Ukrainian military. It fights Russians with great glee, not because it's furthering the cause of Adolf, but to further the destruction of the Russian monster trying to devour Ukraine. Bandera should lose his exalted status for the reason you pointed out---all he did was murder Jews---but he has nothing to do with today's wars.

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Stalin and Brezhnev were dictators of Soviet Union, that had 15 republics and one of them was Russia, Ukraine was also one of the members of USSR.

Thus Stalin and Brezhnev were as much Dictators of Ukraine as of Russia and other members of USSR.

I am sorry but Azov battalion is using insignia of one of most notorious SS divisons on the eastern front that was involved in numerous mass killings of civilians.

Also your claim of "Azov fighting Russian monster" are will nothing but discusting, because same thing was being told about SS divisons who were also killing Jews, Russians and other non Arian races.

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Stalin and Brezhnev were communists. As is Putin. Stop justifying communist aggression.

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What are you talking about? Russia hasn’t been communist for over 30 years.

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Russia may technically not be communist, but it sure isn't a liberal democracy. I'd say "czar with iron fist," which is what it's really been for centuries, just called different things in different eras.

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You can call us a "liberal democracy" but we're not as different as you might think. There are no "good guys". Just bad and worse.

And we're actually a constitutional republic with elements of democracy. And that's a good thing, there's a reason the founders didn't create a democracy.

Words have meanings. He didn't say "authoritarian" he said "communist". My point stands.

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My own family has horrific stories of 1880s Ukraine, such as Cossacks riding into Mom's great-grandfather's village, calling for the 10 most holy men of the village to come forward, then mowing them down, and similar atrocities. In our neat, modern, civilized era, it's hard to imagine these events could have happened, and it's possible the stories are exaggerated if not apocryphal. However, so many horrible pogroms did occur in Ukraine that it's hard to imagine a Jewish village escaping the wanton violence.

Up until recently, anti-Semitism was still a thing in Ukraine. In fact, I wonder whether one of the goals of the Ukraine ruler's clampdown on news media was to suppress any anti-Semitic statements, for the purposes of presenting a more angelic face to the West. It was only a few years ago, however, that a man at an economic conference in Kiev was quoted as saying, "I propose economic development for Ukraine, without Jews." (One wonders what Jews he had in mind, given that his parents or grandparents had efficiently shipped most of them off to death camps.)

Perhaps for these reasons, I seem to have a problem dredging up much sympathy for the Ukrainians. It seems to me they could have reached an accommodation with the Russians. Their leader Zelenskyy is a masterful showman, to be sure, with his heroic speeches and Vogue cover shoots, but would it not have been wiser, and less bloody, to just negotiate some kind of deal?

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"would it not have been wiser, and less bloody, to just negotiate some kind of deal?"

Certainly it would. But you're assuming nobody tried.

I believe Zelensky made offers, and so did a number of other global players, from Biden to the Pope to European leaders. Putin either said "nyet" or made his terms so impossible--"Sure, give me the entire eastern half of your nation and all your ports"--that no sovereign nation could accept.

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I have the same family history of murdered great-grandparents in a Ukrainian pogrom which is why I have “a plague on both your houses” attitude towards this conflict.

I also agree with the Israeli commenter who mentioned these Jews in Russia had decades to leave.

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Valid points, but most experts like Melanie Phillips claim there is far more nazi admiration groupies in Russia than in the Ukraine in 2022, and the examples among Putin's mafia heads , the Wagner group etc are numerous.

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That's correct. You can also read the work of James Kirchik and Claire Berlinski about Putin's Russia. Putin loves to play the "good cop" with Russian and other ex-Soviet Jews. But the truth is, his regime has a variety of such figures in it, around it, and associated with it, like the Wagner group. Conversely, Ukraine, which has a serious history with antisemitism, has a government that, in the last generation, has taken some trouble to air the issues and removed antisemitic figures from official life. The number of such people in Ukraine is a few percent of the population, and, more importantly, they have little to no traction in institutions. And Ukraine has a Jewish president and defense minister.

BTW, I wish I could say the same about the US.

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I am sorry but part for Ukraine is simply not true, I have posted several links about all new monuments to nazi collaborators that have shown in Ukraine in last 3 years.

Furthermore, 3 weeks ago Ukraine had to change their ambassador to Germany, because he was constantly celebrateing Stephan Bandera and his cronies, who literally didn't do anything but kill jews during WW2

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Most countries have neo-Nazi groups. The difference in Ukraine is that WWII-era Nazi collaborators are still celebrated as heroes, and an openly neo-Nazi paramilitary group was allowed to join up as an official battalion in their national guard several years ago. The rebel group that helped overthrow a duly-elected president of Ukraine back in 2014 was dominated by neo-Nazis (or rather, unreformed Nazis), and although that group doesn't have many seats in their parliament, they have a outsized government influence via unelected positions their leaders were appointed to after the (U.S.-assisted) coup.

There has been pushback on antisemitism in Ukraine in recent years, but as in most European countries, there is a deep-seated antisemitism that has been passed from parents to children for over a thousand years.

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Melanie Phillips is not expert on the topic, but opinion journalist.

Ukraine is teaming with nazis, another great example is namig of football stadiums, for example

https://www.holocaustchild.org/2021/03/israeli-envoy-in-ukraine-slams-naming-of-soccer-stadium-in-honor-of-nazi-ally-roman-shukhevych/

What did this man do? Well you can read here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Shukhevych

Again, in which MSM in west did we get to read about this?

Also of you want to who else has monuments in Ukraine

https://forward.com/news/462916/nazi-collaborator-monuments-in-ukraine/

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There are neo-Nazis in Russia (and Germany, and UK, and USA, etc). That Wagner Group guy supposedly has an SS tattoo. But in Ukraine there are statues and memorials to Bandera, who definitely pledged allegiance to the Third Reich and who definitely massacred Jews and Poles and others.

The Azov Brigade, an effective unit of the Ukraine military, definitely uses Nazi symbols, even in the war right now Russians were showing off many prisoners they captured with with swastika tattoos.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepan_Bandera_monument_in_Lviv#:~:text=The%20Stepan%20Bandera%20monument%20in,main%20city%20of%20Western%20Ukraine.

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I have been taken aback by commenters who try to compare where most antisemites and nazis live: Russia, Ukraine or Eastern European countries. All of them have antisemitic history, that’s just European history going back centuries, maybe thousands of years. How is it relevant to the war Russia started and to the current Putin’s policies? It doesn’t matter who is a bigger nazi or antisemite; there is only one country that sent troops to cross the border of another sovereign state and commits war crimes. I am a former Jewish refugee from the Soviet Union, and it took me many years, the best years of my life, to get out. My ancestors lived behind the Pale of Settlement. Tens of them died during programs at the hands of Russians and Ukrainians before the 1917 revolution and at the hands of Germans and Ukrainians during the nazi occupation. I grew up in Russia and encountered antisemitism everywhere, including applying to college and getting a decent job. I hold no rosy image of either Russians or Ukrainians. But again, there is only one country that is an aggressor and presents a risk to the entire world. I am not surprised antisemites are raising heads there. From talking to Russians living in Russia, the country is back not even in the 70s but in the 30s - people lost all freedoms and are waiting for the iron curtain to close completely. The importance of alleged Ukrainian corruption should pale before the risk of the WWIII, and Putin has to be stopped IMHO.

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"there is only one country that sent troops to cross the border of another sovereign state and commits war crimes"

"But again, there is only one country that is an aggressor and presents a risk to the entire world."

You should be careful with statement like this, in last 30 years our neocons have dragged us in numerus foreign wars on false pretenses (while doing that we racked billions of $ of debt that we will leave our children and dindt achive anything). Ask people in Asia, Africa and middle east who is danger to the world, you will get very different answer.

We need to understand that world is not black and white. but many shades of gray. Half of our European "allies" are extremally antisemitic and are getting anti Israel evermore, thanks to growth of immigration from middle east.

Also you say your family left Pale of Settlement, great no reason to lock back and keep meddling in that place.

As for Ukrainian corruption, honestly we have more than enough problems at home, no point on wasting billion of $$$ in money and weapons that will probably either end up on some off shore account of some Ukrainian oligarchs, or sold for profit to our enemies. In the end of the day, US taxpayer money should be used to help people in US.

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I am with you every step! Except that I grew up in Ukraine :)

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I am as suspicious of The Current Thing as anyone but in the case of Russia bombing peaceful cities... murdering women and children ... invading, torturing, killing CIVILIANS... Russia under Putin is a barbaric cult and must be stopped.

In short, I'm comfortable with the lack of nuance in this instance.

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You certainly have a useful and powerful firsthand perspective. I think what's going on here is a reaction to the lack of nuance and depth. Major news outlets were running stories about Ukraine pre-Feb 2022 regarding corruption, Nazis, anti-homosexuals, etc. Then, Russia invaded and *poof* Ukrainians are all holy warriors lead by St Zelensky. Our Democrats just approved $4.5Bil to run their government, pay their pensions, etc (separate from military aid). They have become a client state. We can no longer "call it like we see it." I want Russia to be defeated, but it doesn't mean I think Ukraine is a wonderful place. This is realpolitik.

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I honestly don't understand people as "Just an observer" how seem not to understand amount of money that is being sent to black hole of corruption called Ukraine. And to be honest, last thing what we need is for more deficit spending of money that we have to borrow from Chinese. American money should be used to help people at home.

We left Europe for a reason, we dont need to waste anytime or money on it. The less we engage with it, we will be better of, especially our finances, whe have been footing their defense bill for last 70 years.

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What do you mean “we left Europe”? We are a part of NATO.

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People have migrated from Europe to America for very good reason, to excape bigotry of that god forsaken continent.

There absolutely no reason for us (Americans) to constantly be engaged in that place and constantly foot defense bill for counties that are very rich, and are more than happy (thanks to NATO) to underfund their defense spending while at the same time provide "goodies" to their population that we Americans can only dream off.

Our founding fathers were warning us exactly against this, because this meddling in Europe and their affairs is bankrupting us back at home.

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Of course there's a reason we're engaged: our economy demands it. We sell our stuff to practically every nation on the planet, and outsource most of our manufacturing to the world. Europeans are a key part of our commercial life, and they help us defend global shipping lanes and trade agreements, in addition to fighting terror groups that would kill us all if not watched carefully.

I have no issue with Europeans paying more for their own defense, but if they do, America gets to call fewer shots on the global stage.

If we're being bankrupted, it's not from anything Europe is doing to us. We're doing that just fine on our own between multitrillion-dollar tax cuts and even more expensive Middle Eastern wars.

Finally, bigotry? Europe has no corner on that market, we've got plenty right here.

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Yes America pays for NATO and all the members tend to underfund their military because of that. Any country would be crazy to not want to be part of that club.

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Europe will defend itself to the last $ of American tax payer.

Its sweets deal ever, no obligation to spend on military, because "crazy ' Americans will compensate.

But honestly I don't blame Europeans, they got very sweet deal, I blame our American politicans, who made American tax payers milking cows for European defense.

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I was so surprised to find out for example that Aloysius Stepinac (nazi collaborator and one of organizers of Rat Lines to south America) is declared as "saint" by Catholic church, and has numerous monuments in Croatia (another of our allies)

https://www.wiesenthal.com/about/news/simon-wiesenthal-center-72.html

But surprise surprise, he has school named after him in State of New York

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archbishop_Stepinac_High_School

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Thanks for this.

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"World is not black and white, this is especially true for Eastern Europe."

.... hence Washington's admonition to stay out of Europe's wars. (But of course, if the Ukranians hold your own graft and corruption - and that of your son - over your head, and with it the promise of decades in prison - at least for him - you are more than willing to send Other People's Money to continue the buy-off, eh?)

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LOTS of treasure going to Ukraine while disavowing involvement.

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The US has sent over $60 billion to Ukraine. The money and the weapons are not tracked or accounted for. Anyone so naive as to believe a lot of that is not being skimmed off and secreted away in Swiss bank accounts?

Makes you wonder why our Congress is so eager to continue to send money to Ukraine.

The best thing that could have happened for the Ukrainian people would have been to negotiate with Putin before their cities were leveled.

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"The best thing that could have happened for the Ukrainian people would have been to negotiate with Putin before their cities were leveled."

Why do you assume that approach wasn't tried--and rejected by Putin?

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I'm an avid news reader and at no time in the past year have I seen anything to suggest negotiations were attempted.

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Because everything factual is reported by the "news" ? you have no idea what was and what wasn't attempted.

to anyone who laments Ukraine's "corruption" --- who cares if it's corrupt or not??? Putin is a despot who will continue to bomb cities and countries until someone stops him. If Ukrainians are willing to at least try, they already have a leg up on France circa 1941..

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Thankfully I am subscribed to Rebel News. They have sent reporters over there to find out what is going on. Michael Yon has also done some excellent reporting.

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All news is propaganda, and everyone has an agenda. I only trust sources that I have personally had occasion to verify with my own skin, and even that --- just barely.

Asking if Ukraine is antisemitic or corrupt is like asking how long a rape victim's skirt is. Totally irrelevant to the brutal nature of the ongoing assault, and the danger that Russia presents to the rest of the world (the blameless and the corrupt alike)

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To negotiate with the autocrat who declares Ukraine doesn’t really exist and who now uses the Stalinist textbook for de-nationalization through murder and deportation. Now that would’ve have been a fruitful negotiation - do you want a bullet in the back of the head or a missiles in your apartment ?

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No - to live to fight another day.

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With a country that is not a pile of rubble. There are millions of Ukrainian refugees who will never be able to go home again. The disruption to the world food supply is going to create famine in poorer countries. Ukraine can't win; they can only prolong their own misery.

How bad can it be over there when all high powered US dignitaries go over there for photo ops and Zelensky and his wife to a spread in Vogue. VOGUE? Really?

I don't have all the facts and never will have them but the entire thing stinks to high heaven.

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I agree. It reeks. I also think the food thing is critical.and maybe the reason for it all. Imperialists have long used famine to.their advantage.

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There is so much going on there that it could be decades before we know half of the truth.

Here's what we may know:

1) the USA was supporting dozens of bio weapons labs through good old Dr. Fauci.

2) Ukraine is rich in strategic minerals, and has petroleum in the ground

3) Russia was not going to stand for Ukraine to join NATO

4) the corruption in Ukraine is unbelievable even by the standards of ordinary greed.

5) Biden is going to do all he can to keep Ukraine going and funnel money to it. He can't allow what might come out of there about him and his son to become public. And, it's not just Biden. Pelosi's son Paul had business dealings there as well. Who knows who else. That funding sure sailed through Congress mighty fast when the country is NOT for this. Makes you wonder.

Anyone is welcome to add to the list.

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I knew all.of that except Pelosi's son. Nor do I believe it is only the Democrats and their cohorts partaking. I have also read chilling information about covert US actions during the coup. This was under the Obama regime so Biden would have been in up to his eyeballs.

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If the US backed off and said, "No more money; negotiate a cease fire." It would happen.

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You don’t seem to actually have read my comment. How do you negotiate anything with somebody who says you don’t have the right to exist and wants to physically eliminate you?

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I did read your comment. I do believe a good negotiator could work out a solution. It has happened before. It may seem each side has an intractable position but a capable negotiator can find something on each side that matters more than anything else.

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You don’t understand who Putin is and what he wants. You should read about Ivan Ilyin, Putin’s philosopher of Russian fascism. Negotiations with fascists, real fascists not RT’s fictions, have ended very well in Munich in 1938.

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I have total faith in Donald Trump. He is a master negotiator. He has spend his entire adult life negotiating with difficult people.

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Absolutely yes on negotiating with difficult people. Trump does talk to himself a lot.

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I’m afraid the grifters include more than the Bidens. Ukraine has become the new money laundromat for DC politicians. Remember the photoshoot McConnell and fellow republican dimwits staged in Kiev to drum up support for the $40 billion aid package the senate rammed through without any hearings? Remember the preceding Pelosi House pilgrimage that included congenital liars like Adam Schiff waxing poetic about defending democracy? Nobody knows where the weapons we send them end up or whose pockets get lined with the billions in “aid” although I’m sure some of it will find its way into the campaign coffers of participating pols who care more about Ukraine’s border than ours.

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Liz and Dick Cheney come to mind

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Thanks Barb. I guess you were confused too.

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Come on man! Biden and Hunter. Crooks, corrupt and eminently bribeable.

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I didn't understand his post. It was confusing to me. Where in his post does he mention the ever senile Biden? He says something about "your son" and 10 years in prison. He lost me.

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Not paying attention are we? It is quite obvious to those that do who they were referring too.

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Thank you, Steven, for your kind words.

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Fair point - We are told everything is black and white: Ukraine is good and St. Zelensky is a hero and it's always been like that. Russia has always been our enemy. It's way more complicated and even within the past 10-15 years one can easily find major media stories about UKR nazis / massive govt corruption and "the 1980's called, they want their foreign policy back" when Russia was mentioned as an adversary.

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Yes, excellent historical points raised. Anti-semitism is not just a "Russian" thing. And it was not just Ukraine, there are plenty of horrible stories of pogroms in the Baltic States after the Nazi's pushed out the communists.

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This is so true, many of our "allies" in Eastern Europe are extremally antisemitic, for example Latvia, they have yearly march of SS volunteers

https://eng.lsm.lv/article/culture/history/march-16-procession-takes-place-in-riga.a448133/

And nobody from our MSM or politicians is calling this sh*t out. Poland our great "friend" is literary one of the most antisemitic countries in the world, they constantly try to steal or destroy any Jewish heritage

https://www.jpost.com/international/polands-president-signs-bill-to-limit-ww2-property-restitution-claims-676711

Currently is very popular to bash Russians, while closing eyes at ever-growing antisemitism in Nato members, because they hate Russians and that supposedly somehow makes their antisemitism ok.

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Heck, Jewish people may still be safer in Moscow than many parts of Paris.

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